American actress of Puerto Rican descent Lauren Velez, the twin sister
of actress Loraine Velez, is best recognized for her roles as
María LaGuerta on the Showtime television series
“Dexter” (2006-?), Dr. Gloria Nathan in HBO's
“Oz” (1997-2003) and Detective Nina Moreno on Fox's
“New York Undercover” (1995-1999). She took home an ALMA
Award and a NAMIC Award for the first series and an ALMA Award and a
NCLR Bravo Award for the latter two shows, respectively. Velez is also
memorable for her performances in such films as “I Like It Like
That” (1994), “City Hall” (1996),
“I Think I Do” (1997) and “Serial” (2006, won a
Long Island International Film Expo Award).

Twin

Childhood and Family:

Lauren Velez was born on November 2, 1964, in Brooklyn, New York, to a
New York City police officer father (Jose Velez) and a homemaker mother
(Coco Velez). She has a twin sister named Lorraine
and other five sisters. Lauren discovered
acting while performing in a grade school play, and then started her
career as a dancer. After high school, she and her twin received
scholarships to attend the Alvin Ailey America Dance Theater. However,
Lauren had to put her dancing career on the back burner after suffering
a knee injury. After spending one semester at Kingsborough Community
College, she studied Shakespeare at Michael Howard Studios in
Manhattan. She also trained at The Acting Studio with James
Price.

In 1993, Lauren was married to Mark Gordon. The same year, her father passed away due to heart attack.

New York Undercover

Career:

Lauren Velez made her professional debut by performing in a national
touring company's production of the musical “Dreamgirls.”
She went on to play understudy for actress Phylicia Rashad in Stephen
Sondheim's “Into the Woods” and perform Off-Broadway in the
productions of “Much Ado About Nothing” and
“Fasade.”

In 1994, Velez broke into the big screen with a notable starring turn
as Lisette Linares in the comedy/drama “I Like It Like
That,” which was written and directed by Darnell Martin. The role
brought her a 1995 Independent Spirit nomination for Best Female Lead.
In the following year, Velez got her first major television role. She
was cast as Det. Nina Moreno, a streetwise police officer from a Harlem
precinct deputed to an elite undercover unit in Manhattan, in the Fox
crime/drama series “New York Undercover,” which she played
during season 2 to 4 (1995-1999). For her bright acting, Velez picked
up a NCLR Bravo for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 1996 and
was nominated for an Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in
a Drama Series in 1997 and 1998 and an ALMA Award for Outstanding
Actress in a Drama Series in 1998.

Velez was cast as a cop's widow, Elaine Santos, in Harold Becker's film
“City Hall” (1996), opposite Al Pacino and John Cusack, and
received a NCLR Bravo nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Feature
Film for her performance. She went on to portray Carol in the
gay-themed romantic comedy film “I Think I Do” (1997), for
which she nabbed an ALMA nomination in the category of
Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film, as well as appear in the films
“In Search of a Dream” (1997) and “The
LaMasters” (1998). She also offered a fine performance as Camilla
Lopez in the made for television film “Thicker Than Blood”
(1998), fro which she received an ALMA nomination for Outstanding
Actress in Made-for Television Movie or Mini-Series.

Velez gained further attention on the small screen when she joined the
cast of the HBO suspense series “Oz” to portray
prison doctor Gloria Nathan (1997-2003). She was a guest performer in
the first season and progressed to a regular cast member in the
following season. Delivering a bright acting, Velez was handed an ALMA
Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Series (2001) and
three nominations in the same category (1999, 2000, 2002).

Velez made guest appearances in television series like
“Strange World” (1999), “The Pretender” (2000),
“Profiler” (2000) and “Law & Order” (1999,
2002), and appeared in the CBS telefilm “Love and Treason”
(2001), opposite Kim Delaney, David Keith and Timothy Carhart. She
played the role of Rosa Sanchez in the drama film “Prince of
Central Park” (2000), starring Kathleen Turner, Danny Aiello and
Cathy Moriarty, and had an uncredited part as prison counselor in
“Prison Song” (2001), a drama film directed and co-written
by Darnell Martin.

After “Oz” ended, Velez had recurring roles on
“Dragnet” (2003, 2 episodes, as Det. Denise Beltran),
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2004, 2 episodes,
as Attorney Shamal) and “Numb3rs” (2006-2007, 3 episodes,
as Claudia Gomez) as well as one episodic role in the TV series
“Strong Medicine” (2005), “Wanted” (2005),
“Medium” (2006) and “Law & Order: Criminal
Intent” (2008). However, the outstanding actress did not return
to TV series as a regular cast until she was cast as Maria LaGuerta in
the crime/drama series “Dexter,” which premiered on
Showtime on October 1, 2006. The show has earned her an ALMA Award for
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series (2009) and a NAMIC Vision Award
for Best Actress (2007), not to mention several nominations including
ALMA nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Television
Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie (2007, 2008) and Favorite
TV Actress - Supporting Role (2011, 2012), and Screen Actors Guild
nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama
Series (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012).

In 2006, Velez won the Festival Prize for Best Supporting Actress at
the Long Island International Film Expo for her performance as Roseanne
Crystal in the independent feature film “Serial,” which was
directed and written by Kevin Arbouet and Larry Strong.

During 2009-2010, Velez played the recurring role of Elena, the nurse
to Betty's father in the ABC comedy/drama series “Ugly
Betty.”

In 2011, Velez appeared as Carmen Vega in an episode of A&E's
“Breakout Kings” called “Where in the World Is Carmen
Vega.” She also guest starred in “Hawthorne.” On the
movie front, Velez co-starred with Rose McGowan and Lin Shaye in the
horror/thriller “Rosewood Lane” (2011), which was written
and directed by Victor Salva.